1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computerized electrical busses that connect and integrate a vehicle's electrical power supply with various devices and aspects of the vehicle. In particular, the invention applies to those vehicles which feature an internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrain or a main propulsion unit associated with a battery-based, battery-capacitor based, fuel cell-based, solar cell reactor-based or capacitor-based electrical power generation/storage source.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the first manifestation of vehicles powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE), such as the automobile, train, airplane, submarine and the like, electrical power played an important part in the functioning of the ICE powertrain. At first, electrical power was generated to provide the electric spark that was needed to start and/or run the ICE that propelled the vehicle. As ICE-based vehicles developed, electricity was also used to power the various auxiliary devices associated with the vehicle, such as lights, gauges, radio and the like.
Initially, the vehicular electrical devices were very limited in the amount of information that they could carry and process and are now considered to be “dumb” devices or systems. The “dumb” vehicular electrical devices and systems use two types of signals: analogue and digital. A digital signal-based electrical device/system is the simpler of the two “dumb” systems. The digital electrical signals are simply an “on-off’ electrical signals that are communicated by the presence of, or lack thereof, an electrical current or charge in the electrical system. Such digital signals are generated by devices like simple car door switch which is used to indicate when a car door is opened or closed, or by simple light switches which turn on or off corresponding lights.
The other “dumb” electrical system is based on the analogue signal. Whereas the digital electrical systems and devices utilize the presence or absence of an electrical charge or current, the analogue signal uses the change in the amount of voltage of the electrical charge, rather than a presence of, or lack thereof, an electrical current or charge. In this manner, the analogue signal is used to communicate varying degrees of change as noted by an analogue electrical sensor.
One example of an analogue electrical system is the fuel level sensor of the vehicle's fuel tank and correspondingly, the fuel gauge on the instrument panel in the passenger compartment. The fuel level sensor has a pivoting arm to which a float is attached to the far end of the arm. The fuel level sensor is positioned into the fuel tank so that the arm can allow the float to pivot freely on the top of the fuel in the tank and will correspondingly move the arm as fuel is added or removed from the fuel tank.
When the vehicle is running, its ICE powertrain consumes fuel, and correspondingly, the level of fuel decreases in the fuel tank. As the fuel sensor float in the fuel tank drops with the decreasing level of gasoline in the fuel tank, this will cause the fuel level sensor to change the amount of electrical current (e.g., change the voltage level or the level of the electrical current) that it is sending to the fuel gauge mounted on the vehicle's instrument panel. The fuel gauge, reading the analogue electrical signal (the amount of electricity coming from the fuel tank fuel level sensor) and converts it into a fuel level reading displayed on the fuel gauge.
The analogue electrical signal, as it relates to the displayed information of the fuel gauge, is converted by the gauge is shown as follows (example):                No electrical charge from the sensor—empty gas tank reading;        Small electrical charge from sensor—V4 gas tank reading;        Greater electrical charge from sensor—V2 gas tank reading, etc.        
Other types of analogue signal-based electrical devices include engine temperature gauges and sensors (i.e. cold, warm, very warm, hot, too hot).
These analogue and digital based electrical signals, when transmitted between various vehicle electrical devices, have been traditionally carried by a cumbersome wiring harness comprised of multiple pairs of wires. Generally speaking, each “dumb” electrical device has its own separate and distinct wire pair to connect the “dumb” device to power supply and/or control features and/or other “dumb” devices.
Generally speaking, a wire pair for a “dumb” electrical device has at least one (1) specific wire to supply electricity to the device and at least one (1) specific wire to take electricity away from the device or to ground the device. A vehicle having multiple electrical devices that are based either on analogue and digital signals will have a wiring harness that is comprised of a multitude of such wire pairs. Such “dumb” wiring harnesses for electrically/electronically sophisticated vehicles such as passenger cars are cumbersome to deal with because of their harnesses' complexity which make the harnesses difficult to build, install, maintain and repair. Further, such complexity in a wiring harness can also result in unreliable vehicular electrical system, even to the point of causing serious vehicular electrical problems, such as, total electrical failure, or in some instances, vehicle fires.
During the latter portion of the twentieth-century, with the dawning of the computer revolution, many vehicular electrical devices were designed and manufactured to be computer chip controlled. The computer revolution facilitated the development of advanced sophisticated vehicular electrical/electronic devices (solid state and/or computer chip enhanced) that could handle high speed processing of large amounts of information or data.
An example of this “smart” electronic technology is known as the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineering) J1939 or CAN (Controller Area Network) 2.OB system. This system, which has an industry accepted uniform set of standards and criteria, is used primarily in commercial or military motor vehicles for their “smart” electronic systems. Example of Ji 939/CAN 2.OB “smart” devices for commercial vehicles includes: ABS (automatic brake system); fuel injection/turbo-super charged engines, electrically controlled automatic transmissions, airbag systems; automatic interior environmental control; pollution control equipment; and other types of non-mechanical/operate-by-wire instrumentalities.
The J1939 system uses a wiring harness comprised of a single wire pair that connects all the “smart” vehicular devices together. The J1939 system utilizes a differential voltage current to transmit/receive serial stream messages or signals between all the “smart” electronic devices located on the “smart” wire harness. The use of differential voltage and serial stream messages allows a great amount of information or data to be carried throughout the J1939 system and allow the “smart” electrical system to tolerate (ignore) any electrical interference (noise) that radiate the J1939 wiring harness.
The serial stream messages are electronic signals that have bits of information or data that are encoded or “compartmentalized” into different segments of the signal itself. In this manner, for example, the first part or segment of the serial stream signal could contain identifier information telling the intended recipient “smart” device that this message was an incoming signal for it alone. The second part of the serial stream signal could contain data as to what specific action the intended recipient “smart” device was to take. A third part section of the signal might contain data that the intended recipient “smart” device was to utilize when it undertook the requested action.
A “smart” device therefore that used serial stream message technology would have the ability to transmit, receive and process a significantly large amount of information to handle increasingly sophisticated and complex tasks than could the analogue or digital “dumb” devices. The utilization of this “smart” communication and processing means would allow the replacement of mechanical-based control (with its limited speed and information capability) with operate-by-wire technology and its greatly enhanced speed and task management capability.
The “smart” system does have its limitations. First, it is incompatible with “dumb” electrical devices in that “dumb” devices lack the ability to receive, process or transmit serial stream messages. Further, the direct connection of a “dumb” electrical device to a smart wiring harness would interfere with the differential voltage used on the “smart” wiring harness and cause a breakdown or failure of the “smart” device network.
A current example of “smart” technology in a vehicle is seen in the ABS or Antilock Braking System for commercial vehicles. The ABS, utilizing several sensors located throughout the vehicle, sends a continuous stream of a large amount of information on how the vehicle is operating to the computerized controller of the ABS. This constant massive flow and processing of information allows, when the car's external environment requires the driver to commence braking of the vehicle, the ABS “smart” system to act faster in braking (without locking the wheels) the vehicle relative to actual driving conditions than could the vehicle operator in utilizing the old manual mechanical operation of a non-ABS brake system.
It is possible, that in the future, all of a vehicle's electrical and electronic devices will be “smart” technology compatible. It is possible that the “dumb” (analogue/digital) electrical devices will have a “gateway” type chip in them that will allow the “dumb” devices to be integrated with the “smart” electronic system. The “gateway” chip will allow the “dumb” device to receive, process and transmit serial stream messages allowing for computerized control of a previously “dumb” device. The “gateway” chip, in addition to providing the above-described computerized control, will allow the “dumb” electrical device to sending of messages regarding its performance or status to the control panel or controlling computer that in turn will notify the vehicle operator of such status.
This future affording of the “dumb” devices with full “smart” compatibility and capability will allow the greatly expanded capacity of “dumb” (analogue/digital) devices. An example of this future development would be headlights of a vehicle. In addition to the ordinary switching on-and-off of the headlights, a vehicle's computer (with this “gateway” chip installed on the headlight bulb) could allow instantaneous computerized control of the intensity and direction of a single headlight to correspond to the lighting conditions on that headlight's side of the road.
Until that time occurs when vehicles have fully integrated “smart” capability and corresponding manufacturing industry imposes universally accepted standards for such capability, the vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers will continue to make vehicles which have separate “smart” and “dumb” electrical systems running side-by-side. The current situation is very similar to having a computer network running along side a communication system that comprises of tin cans connected by a string.
Further, a vehicle which does not have full integration of its electrical/electronic systems cannot take advantage of the multiple benefits of the “smart” computerized electrical system. There is also associated with this non-integration, the price of increased cost for the vehicle's electrical system that accommodates both “smart” and dumb” electrical/electronic devices and systems. Such an accommodation requires duplicate manufacture, installation, and maintenance/repair costs as well as having a separate “dumb” wiring harness that is still cumbersome, complex and heavy.
Outside of the above-stated manufacturing situation, there is also the worldwide concern about increasing amounts of emission pollution resulting from the operation of internal combustion engines (ICE). As these concerns continue to grow, governments worldwide are imposing greater restrictions and stricter mandates on vehicle manufacturers to limit or reduce the amount of pollutants that an internal combustion engine powertrain can emit.
To meet these ever-increasing restrictions and mandates, the vehicle manufactures are turning towards other means of propulsion to supplement or even replace the ICE vehicle power plant. Such supplantation includes the utilization of solar power, electrical energy stored by very powerful capacitors, hydrogen-powered fuel cells, wireless energy transmitting grid (e.g. microwave radiation) and other futuristic propulsion systems. With such new power systems will come electrical/electronic systems that have standards that are different from the current vehicular electrical systems to add to the already confusing state of affairs of electrical/electronic standards and systems integration. These new systems will include electrical power source/storage systems (battery-based, battery/capacitor hybrid-based, capacitor-based, fuel cell, solar cell reactors and other advances in energy storage technology) that are used in conjunction with various vehicle powertrains and their various hybrid combinations.
As shown above, the incompatibly of vehicle's electrical and electronic systems is a current and future problem. There is, therefore, a present and future need for a means of integration and coordination of the various types of electrical/electronic “dumb” (digital, analogue) and “smart” systems of a vehicle.
At the very minimum, this integration and coordination should occur without regard to the type of electrical power/storage source that the vehicle utilizes. Further, this integration and coordination solution should occur on at least three different levels for the operation of the vehicle's electrical/electronic system: 1) start-up control, 2) electrical load management and 3) electrical load shedding.
The first level, start-up control, is where all electrical systems which are not needed to initiate or start the propulsion unit or the powertrain of the vehicle, are shut down or set to minimal energy requirements so that all the energy for the vehicle's power source/storage can be devoted in starting or initializing the propulsion unit/powertrain of the vehicle. Additionally in this level switching of power sources to the start up device can be accomplished.
The second level, electrical load management, is devoted to decide what available electrical power from the vehicle should go to what electronic/electrical device(s) or system(s). This level of management also monitors the amount of electrical activity and status of the respective electronic/electrical devices and systems.
The third level is load-shedding management which is the decision-making process and control for prioritizing, according to task or need at hand, which electronic/electrical devices/systems should be powered and which should be de-energized to a lower level of power consumption or turned-off completely. This level of management helps prevents unnecessary depletion of the vehicle's electrical power source/storage and promotes energy conservation.
There is therefore a need for a computerized management apparatus and methodology that can integrate both electronic/electrical “dumb” and “smart” systems of a vehicle on the three levels of starting control, load management and load shedding for a vehicle's electronic/electrical system(s).